Study Shows Alternatives To Separate Mississippi & Great Lakes

Jan 30: A report released by the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative identifies strategies for restoring the natural divide between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes -- and, in the process, modernizing the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). Tim Eder, GLC executive director said, "Physically separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds is the best long-term solution for preventing the movement of Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species, and our report demonstrates that it can be done."

    The threat of Asian carp looms large for communities in the Great Lakes region. The lakes provide over 35 million residents with drinking water, contain 20 percent of the Earth's fresh surface water, and support a thriving tourism industry and world-class fishery, which generates an estimated $7 billion in economic activity annually. Voracious feeders that can grow up to 90 pounds, Asian carp have overrun other ecosystems and could cause irreversible damage to the Great Lakes if allowed entry. Once established, invasive species are nearly impossible to eliminate.

    David Ullrich, executive director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative said, "This is a unique opportunity for both protection of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River and for a Chicago waterway system for the 21st century and beyond. No single use of the CAWS, including transportation, flood control and wastewater treatment, can be considered individually. The system requires an integrated approach and that is what we have taken."

    The report identifies three separation alternatives including: (1) a down-river single barrier between the confluence of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Cal-Sag Channel and the Lockport Lock; (2) a mid-system alternative of four barriers on CAWS branches between Lockport and Lake Michigan; and (3) a near-lake alternative of up to five barriers closest to the lakeshore. All three include measures to improve the CAWS's role in flood management, wastewater treatment and maritime transportation, as well as stopping the interbasin movement of aquatic invasive species.

    The three separation alternatives in the report were developed by the engineering firm HDR, Inc., which considered some 20 possible barrier locations in its analysis. No recommended alternative is identified. However, one alternative, the mid-system solution, is the least costly and offers other advantages. The analysis concludes that preventing just a single invasive species from entering the Great Lakes can save as much as $5 billion over 30 years. The Corps of Engineers has identified 10 species that are poised to invade the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River.

    According to the report's economic analysis, the cost of the barriers themselves is as low as $109 million. The addition of all improvements to address water quality, flood prevention and transportation brings the cost to between $3.2 billion and $9.5 billion, depending on the location and the degree to which the wastewater treatment plants on the system are improved to meet future Clean Water Act requirements. The analysis also finds that households in the Great Lakes basin would have to be willing to pay, on average, about $1 a month from now through 2059 to cover the cost of the mid-system alternative, based on a projected cost of $4.27 billion. 

Asian carp have been migrating up the Mississippi River system since the early 1990s and were detected in 2009 to have breached electronic barriers operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the CAWS. In 2010 a live Asian carp was captured in Lake Calumet just six miles from Lake Michigan.

    The GLC, representing the eight Great Lakes states plus the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec, and the Cities Initiative, a coalition of U.S. and Canadian mayors, embarked on the accelerated study in 2010 believing separation to be the best strategy for preventing the movement of Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species between the two watersheds via the CAWS. The $2 million project was funded by a collaboration of six regional funders: the Joyce Foundation, C.S. Mott Foundation, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, Wege Foundation, Great Lakes Protection Fund and Frey Foundation.

    A number of groups with Great Lakes interest, issued a joint release commending the authors' factual analysis concluding that separation is possible and that it must include essential upgrades to sewage, flood control and waterborne transportation while preventing the transfer of invasive species. The groups included: Alliance for the Great Lakes; Clean Water Action Minnesota; Freshwater Future; Great Lakes United; Healing Our Waters–Great Lakes Coalition;  National Wildlife Federation; Natural Resources Defense Council; Sierra Club-Ontario; and Ohio Environmental Council.

    Access a release from GLC (click here). Access the report and all supporting materials (click here). Access a release from the supporting groups (click here).

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IJC's New Approach To Manage Water Levels & Flows

Jan 30: The International Joint Commission (IJC) released information about a new approach to manage water levels and flows in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River system. According to a release, following a five-year binational study and extensive public comment, the IJC is developing a new approach with the assistance of a Working Group of representatives from the governments of Canada, the United States, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and the State of New York.

    The flow of water from Lake Ontario down the St. Lawrence River is regulated by the Moses-Saunders Dam in accordance with the IJC's 1956 order of approval. The current regulation plan moderates extreme high and low water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. However, it is based on conditions of the last century, does not take the environment into account, and has no process for adapting to future challenges such as bigger storms and more severe droughts. While continuing to moderate extreme high and low water levels, the new approach would allow for more natural water levels and flow patterns and is expected to produce significant environmental improvements. An Adaptive Management strategy would improve the capability to adapt to future changes, including socio-economic changes and significant changes in climate throughout the system.

    The IJC welcomes public input on the new approach and will host online forums and public information sessions around the basin in late spring 2012. Written comments on the new approach may be submitted via the LOSLR website or sent by regular mail or email.

    The organizations Save The River, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund – Canada (WWF–Canada) issued a joint release offering their organizations' support for IJC's new approach to water level regulation in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. The three organizations are encouraged by the proposal, known as Plan BV7 which they said, "if appropriately implemented, will take steps to restore the lake and river after 60 years of environmentally damaging regulation."

    Access a release from IJC with commenting instructions (click here). Access complete details of the approach (click here). Access a release from the organizations supporting Plan BV7 (click here). Access more information on the Plan from Save The River (click here).

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Great Lakes Shipper To Install Fresh Water Exhaust Gas Scrubbers

Jan 30: Algoma Central Corporation (Algoma), the largest Canadian ship-owner and operator of domestic, Great Lakes vessels, announced that it will install fresh water, exhaust gas scrubbers on six new vessels that will remove 97% of sulfur oxides emissions generated by vessel engines. The St. Catharines, Ontario-based company has signed a contract with Wärtsilä Ship Power for the supply of the systems for its Equinox Class vessels, which are currently being built by Chinese shipbuilder Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. The total supply and installation cost of the six scrubber systems is US$12 million.

 

    The two gearless bulk carriers and four self-unloading bulk carriers are designed specifically for Great Lakes service. These ships have been designed with high efficiency hulls that will require less horsepower to achieve higher speeds than any previous Great Lakes design and thus achieve the lowest fuel consumption and emissions per tonne/kilometre of cargo carried. The first Equinox Class vessel will arrive in Canada in the first half of 2013.

 

    The Algoma order is the first for Wärtsilä's new, integrated, fresh water, exhaust gas scrubber design. The scrubbers are designed to clean the exhaust gases of the vessels' main and auxiliary engines as well as the oil-fired boiler and will meet more stringent environmental regulations taking effect over the next three years. The scrubber systems will allow ship-owners to use lower cost, heavy fuel oils while, at the same time, meet the new Emission Control Area sulfur limits established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and adopted by Canada and the United States for the Great Lakes and coastal waters. Without scrubber technology, ship-owners will be forced to convert vessels to burn more expensive diesel oil.

 

    The Wärtsilä scrubber concept works with fresh water recirculating in a closed-loop system. Sulfur oxides that are washed out of the exhaust are neutralized with caustic soda. A small amount of scrubbing water is continuously extracted and an on board water treatment unit removes other captured contaminants such as particulate matter. A major advantage of fresh water scrubbers is the possibility to operate in a zero discharge mode which means that there is no effluent (waste product) from the scrubber discharged into the lake water. The treated, clean effluents would be held in a holding tank for discharge at an appropriate location. Solid contaminants are disposed of at reception facilities in port.

 

    Access a release from Algoma and distributed by American Great Lakes Ports Association (click here).

 

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Science Advisory Board Completes Review Of GLRI

Jan 24: U.S. EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) has completed its review of the Agency's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan FY 2010- 2014 and has produced a 63-page report [See WIMS 11/14/11]. The SAB indicates it supports the premise that enough is known about the issues confronting the Great Lakes, as well as the underlying causes and potential remedies, to initiate action, and agrees that the Action Plan identifies most of the important actions that should be undertaken. The SAB notes that an integrated, science-based framework that provides input and justification for actions is lacking within the GLRI, but finds that the Action Plan is largely consistent with previous plans and strategies, reflecting a continuation of collaborative planning in the region. This continuity is good, but it does not guarantee sufficiency and the SAB has a number of comments and recommendations to improve future efforts.

 

    The SAB supports the primary emphasis on implementing the extensive backlog of restoration projects in the Great Lakes region. The SAB also notes that this 5-year Action Plan is well underway and the plan itself recognizes that as these projects are completed, an evaluation and reprioritization of efforts will be needed using an adaptive management framework. This evaluation will require that a solid, science-based framework be in place to drive the restoration plan. The SAB recommends that the agency create this integrated framework to bolster the Action Plan, to organize the current efforts, and to identify future directions to develop and implement new restoration technologies, methods and approaches.

 

    SAB points out that another important organizational tool that is missing is a standing science panel. The SAB recommends the agency create a well-integrated panel that could influence the program's evolution by providing assessments of progress in key areas. The science panel's input on design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation efforts would provide a scientific basis for setting priorities across disparate actions. In addition to natural and physical scientific expertise, the panel should include the social science disciplines. Behavioral, social, and decision scientists can provide many kinds of insights and advice needed for a program as wide ranging as the GLRI. A diverse panel will offer assistance in targeting education and outreach efforts, and critical insights into the likely workability of particular institutional arrangements.

 

    The SAB notes that climate change is not explicitly addressed in the each of the focus areas of the Action Plan. Restoration efforts of this magnitude and complexity will likely change in the future as alterations in air and lake temperature, amount and patterns of precipitation, ice cover and lake levels may significantly impact restoration efforts.

 

    SAB also notes that there are a number of admirable long-term goals and objectives to eliminate the introduction of invasive species in the Action Plan. Several parallel activities are under way to address specific invasive species (i.e., Asian carp) and vectors (i.e., ballast water controls) in addition to the recommendations on surveillance programs the agency requested. The SAB finds these issues important and timely, and recommends that these parallel efforts be evaluated together to develop a comprehensive invasive species program. The SAB endorses developing a basin-wide invasive species surveillance program and recommends that surveillance and rapid response protocols be coordinated to ensure that the various states, provinces, and other participating organizations use the same methodology and protocols to provide meaningful information and effective rapid response.

 

    Finally, the SAB recommends that the EPA and its partners consider explicit peer review criteria, in parallel with the peer-review process of the National Science Foundation, for all activities (internally and externally funded), including those focused on education and outreach. The criteria should advance the knowledge and understanding of Great Lakes issues, promote teaching, increase participation of underrepresented groups, and broadly disseminate information to enhance the scientific and technological understanding of the public.

 

    Access the complete SAB review report and recommendations (click here). Access the SAB review committee website for complete background information and documents (click here).

 

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Great Lakes Steamship Repower Incentive Program

Jan 18: U.S. EPA announced in the Federal Register [77 FR 2472-2478] that it was taking direct final action to simplify an existing provision in its marine diesel engine program that is intended to encourage owners of Great Lakes steamships to repower those steamships with cleaner marine diesel engines. The simplified program will automatically permit the use of residual fuel, through December 31, 2025, in a steamship if it has been repowered with a certified Tier 2 or later marine diesel engine, provided the steamship was operated exclusively on the Great Lakes and was in service on October 30, 2009.

    Steamships are powered by old, inefficient steam boilers. Voluntary replacement of these boilers with modern fuel-efficient marine diesel engines will result in reductions of particulate matter and sulfur oxides, even while the replacement diesel engines are operated on higher sulfur residual fuel, and will provide human health and welfare benefits for the people who live in the Great Lakes region. Conversion to new diesel engines will also result in considerable carbon dioxide reductions and fuel savings.

    If no adverse comment is received, the rule is effective on March 19, 2012 without further notice. If EPA receives adverse comment by February 17, 2012, it will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take effect.

 

    Access the FR announcement of the Direct Final Rule (click here). Access the FR announcement of the companion Proposed Rule (click here). [#Air, #GLakes]

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Comments Wanted On Draft Oceans & Great Lakes Action Plan

Jan 12: The Obama Administration released a National Ocean Policy action plan to address the most pressing challenges facing ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources. The draft requests comments on actions the Federal Government will take to improve the health of the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes, which support tens of millions of jobs, contribute trillions of dollars a year to the national economy, and are essential to public health and national security. The plan, is available for public comment through February 27.

    The draft action plan will ensure the Federal Government targets its resources to more effectively and efficiently deliver results for Americans, including greater predictability for ocean users and better access to the latest science and information related to ocean health. The actions reflect ideas and input from industry, conservation groups, local officials, the public and other stakeholders who provided critical feedback to the National Ocean Council through two public comment periods and 12 regional listening sessions.

    Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality and Co-Chair of the National Ocean Council said, "When President Obama created the National Ocean Policy, he marked a landmark step toward addressing the challenges that face the health of our ocean and coasts, and the economies they support. This action plan will help focus our resources on actions that will enhance the stewardship of coastal and marine resources on which so many communities, small businesses, and American jobs depend." John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Co-Chair of the National Ocean Council said, "This plan reflects a number of overarching priorities of the Obama Administration -- including a commitment to scientific data as an important basis for decision-making and a commitment to transparency and openness as we ensure that the interests of all stakeholders, from recreational beach-goers to fishermen and farmers, are taken into account."  

    Ocean and coastal resources are under pressure from growing and often competing uses, such as national security, recreation, shipping, energy production, and commercial fishing, as well as from pollution, resource extraction, and climate change. The draft Implementation Plan focuses on public-private partnerships, promoting efficiency and collaboration across sectors, managing resources with an integrated approach, and making available and using the best science and information on ocean health. The plan outlines key milestones, identifies responsible Federal agencies, and indicates the expected timeframe for completion of Implementation Plan actions including:

• Streamlining ocean and coastal permitting processes, beginning with aquaculture
• • Agencies will collaborate to develop efficient, coordinated permitting processes that will save time and money for ocean industries, encourage economic growth, and protect public health, safety, and the environment.
• Improving water quality
• • Agencies will identify and implement conservation and best management practices, and promote voluntary partnership programs with stakeholders to reduce rural and urban sources of pollution.
• Providing climate-change forecasts and vulnerability assessments for coastal communities
• • Federal agencies will improve the quality and accessibility of science and information to enable Federal, State and local decision-makers to reduce the risks of sea level rise and other climate change impacts, and make informed investments in infrastructure, public health and economic development.
• Improving environmental response management in the Arctic
• • As melting sea ice enables increased access for shipping, tourism and oil and gas development, Federal agencies will work with State, local and international partners to develop coordinated response procedures for oil spills, marine accidents or other incidents to protect people, communities and ecosystems from adverse impacts.

    The plan also makes it a priority to: Provide scientific information to support emerging sustainable uses of resources including fisheries, renewable energy, aquaculture, and biotechnology; Provide open access to data and information across the Federal Government for state and local decision-makers, ocean users, stakeholders, and the public; Identify and make available grant and partnership opportunities to support regional priorities; Develop methods and standards for assessing the resilience of natural resources, cultural resources, coastal communities, and infrastructure in a changing climate; and Identify and conserve habitat for priority fish species.

    Access a release on the draft Plan (click here). Access the draft Implementation website to access the plan, provide comments, and information on previous comments (click here). Access the White House Oceans website (click here).

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Lake Erie & Tributaries Suitable Habitat For Invasive Carps

Jan 12: A new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study indicates that Lake Erie and its largest tributaries are suitable habitats for invasive Asian carps to reproduce and mature. The USGS study found that the Maumee, Sandusky, and Grand rivers are hospitable environments for Asian carps, potentially allowing the invasive fish to establish a self-sustaining population in western Lake Erie. Currently, Federal agencies are working in partnership with Great Lakes States to implement a series of measures to prevent Asian carps from entering the Great Lakes Basin and possibly damaging native fish populations and the Great Lakes economy. This USGS research effort, coupled with previously published research on Asian carp food availability in western Lake Erie, is the first to demonstrate the potential for Asian carps to successfully reproduce within the Great Lakes Basin. The USGS study, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research

 

    USGS director Marcia McNutt said, "While the finding of a hospitable environment is not the scientific outcome we and our partners might have hoped for, the clear implication is that conditions exist which could allow for the establishment of breeding populations of Asian carps in Lake Erie. Experience has shown that if they do, the native fish, and the economy that depends on them, could suffer gravely."

    To determine if these and other species of Asian carp can potentially mature in Lake Erie and if river conditions are favorable for them to spawn, the USGS researchers studied water temperatures in the lake and water velocity during flood events in eight major tributaries over the past 20 years. The new study found that the Maumee River, which enters western Lake Erie at Toledo, is highly suitable for Asian carps to mature and spawn, and the Sandusky River, which enters western Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio, and the Grand River, which enters central Lake Erie at Fairport Harbor, are moderately suitable.

    Federal and state agencies and other partners are undertaking aggressive tracking and monitoring of the invasive species, have installed electric barriers in the Chicago Area Waterways System to keep Asian carp from moving toward Lake Michigan, and constructed a 1,500-foot fence to block advancement of Asian carp from the Wabash River to the Maumee and Lake Erie.

    Access a release from USGS (click here). Access an abstract and information on obtaining the complete paper (click here).

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USACE Releases ANS Control Paper For Comment

Dec 21: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has published and released for comment the Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Control Paper: Inventory of Available Controls for Aquatic Nuisance Species of Concern – Chicago Area Waterway System. USACE will be hosting two (2) conference calls regarding the paper on January 10 and February 8, and is accepting comments on the paper through Friday, February 17, 2012 [76 FR 79167-79168, 12/21/11].

 

    The purpose of the ANS Control Paper is to identify the range of options or technologies available to prevent the ANS of Concern transfer in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). Each selected Control was identified as one that is potentially effective at preventing the transfer of the 39 ANS of Concern-CAWS via aquatic pathways. The organisms were previously identified as non-native species to be the initial focus of Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS). The paper does not contain specific recommendations, rank the effectiveness of the Controls, or identify constraints, impacts, regulatory requirements or technological feasibility of application.

 

    Controls include those that modify flow within a waterway, such as hydrologic separation of the basins, those that modify the water quality of a waterway, chemical application to ANS, collection and removal of ANS from a waterway, as well as other types of Controls currently in research and development. USACE has prepared a fact sheet for each of the 27 ANS Controls.

 

    USACE will consider comments received during the comment period, and will update the ANS Control Paper in spring 2012. An updated, final report will be posted on the GLMRIS website. Using the information contained in the paper, USACE will develop screening criteria consistent with study objectives and refine the list of ANS Controls to determine which warrant further consideration. USACE will formulate plans comprised of one or more of the screened ANS Controls in consideration of four criteria: completeness, effectiveness, efficiency and acceptability. USACE will then evaluate and compare the effects of the alternative plans.

 

    Access the Control Paper website and link to the complete report, fact sheets, commenting form & instructions and related information (click here). Access the FR announcement (click here). [#GLakes]

 

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